Defining the Congress government as the “aam admi’s government”, party vice-president Rahul Gandhi criticised the BJP for opposing the Food Security Bill.

Laying claims to ensuring food security to the poor in the country, the Gandhi scion blamed the BJP for calling the budget for food security bill “a wastage of financial resources”.

Rahul claimed that the bill was another landmark initiative of the Congress government, after the Right to Information Act and Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act.

“They said we are wasting money on food security to the poor. Such is our opposition. If we are wasting money by giving food to the hungry, we are happy to waste it. The Congress is giving rights to people, and by rights, we mean the guarantee of development. Food security is a right of the poor in this country,” Rahul said at a function held in the capital on Tuesday to distribute ownership rights to those living in 45 resettlement colonies.

The government claimed that this “historical” step will benefit almost 15 lakh residents of Delhi.

Praising Delhi for its infrastructure, Rahul gave the credit for the development of the city to its residents. “People have come from across the country to make this city their home. The infrastructure this city boasts of is the labour of these residents,” he said.

Rahul praised the Congress government for making the transition from rural to urban possible. “If we go by history, today, 30 per cent of the population lives in urban India, In next 20 years, we believe 50 per cent of India’s population will live in urban India. Through a number of legislations we have changed the development paradigm,” he said.

Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit congratulated the beneficiaries in resettlement colonies and praised her government for being able to give ownership rights to these people. “Resettlement colonies were established by former prime minister Indira Gandhi. Now, Rahul is giving ownership rights to people to live in houses that they have been living in for years. These people should have become owners of their houses a long time ago but a PIL against such colonies delayed the process,” Dikshit said.

She also expressed her desire to see Rahul Gandhi as prime minister. “We have been here for just 15 years and there is a lot more we could have done. When Rahul becomes PM, we will go to him with a request to do away with multiplicity of authorities. We desire to make Delhi a world-class city,” Dikshit said.